Page 65 of Mile High With the Bikers
“Careful.” I aim my gun at the door, pulling the trigger one, two, three, four times, knocking splinters out around the lock. “Ok, go.”
Bull charges, followed closely by me and Shrapnel, with our guns up, ready for anything.
35
RORY
The door burstsopen in a shower of particle board and splinters, and coming out of the cloud is Bull, his arm up to shield his face and a gun in his free hand. He keeps going, rolling deeper into the room as he gets his bearings and his gun aimed. When he stops, he's on one knee with his barrel pointing right at Leon.
Leon raises his gun to fire, but he's already too late. As soon as he moves, Bull puts a bullet in his chest, sending him flailing backwards. Leon slides slowly down the wall, leaving a bloody streak behind.
I'm trying so, so hard not to freak out right now.
Even so, words can't describe the relief that washes over me, knowing that they’re here. And then I spot Diesel, coming through more cautiously, but his gun up and aiming. And last of all, Shrapnel. Shrapnel, who's bloodied, limping and his nose not looking right, but most of all, Shrapnel who’s still alive. I want to throw myself at him and hug him and cling to him and never let go again.
Unfortunately, there's a catch. I'm standing very, very still, because Haney has her arm in a lock around my throat, and her gun pressed right up against the side of my skull.
“Why is this so fucking hard?” The desperate edge in her voice is very real now, and it makes me very worried that she's just going to kill me out of spite. “All I wanted to do was retire with a worthwhile nest egg. I still don't understand how this program can be so much more important to you than your own freaking father.”
“Mary, don't do this.” Dad lifts his head, and his voice is weak, but he's more conscious than he was earlier. “We'll make a deal.”
“A deal.” She tightens her grip on my throat. “I think that time has passed, don't you? All I need is something, anything, out of this that I can use.”
Shrapnel's lip curls, his eyes fixed to the gun at my head. “You even think about pulling that trigger, and I'm gonna forget everything I believe about not killing women. I will fucking peel your skin off one strip at a time and feed it to you.” Unlike Haney's shaking gun hand, his is rock steady and aimed at her head. I fully trust that if he thinks he can put a bullet in her without hitting me, then it's true, but I definitely don't like it. And if she twitches when he does…
“Jesus. Just give me something, I don't care what as long as I can sell it, and you'll never see me again.”
“I. Can’t!” I struggle the words out past my constricted throat.
“Bullshit.” But she relaxes the grip a little so I can talk.
“Try it yourself. Hermes can't work without my circuit board plugged into the attacking computer.” I swallow hard againsther tight grip, feeling my Adam's apple press against her arm. “I ditched it on the way here. Bitch.”
“Holy shit,” Dad wheezes a laugh. “That's why it didn't work? Brilliant.”
Is it bad that I actually get a good feeling from impressing my dad? The time and place could've been better. “Don't talk, Dad. Not until we get you a doctor.”
“So touching. Shut up, both of you.” Haney starts to drag me towards the door, keeping me firmly between her and the boys. Diesel tracks her with the barrel of his gun, and so does Shrapnel. Bull isn’t aiming yet, but he’s watching us closely. Haney’s head swivels constantly as she tries to track all three of them at once. “There’s no time to see if you’re telling the truth or not. If we don't have everything we need, then there's no reason for me to stay. God, what a shitshow this has turned into.”
Shrapnel crouches without ever taking his eyes off us, reaching into his boot. When his hand comes out again, it's holding a little piece of circuit board with a plug on the end. “You mean this? I’ll fucking let you have it, if you give us Rory.”
“Give that to me!”
“Fuck you.”
“Don't you want your girl back?” Haney presses the barrel harder against the side of my head. Please, please, please, don't lose control.
“I do. But if I give you this, I have no leverage anymore, do I?” Shrapnel moves with us, putting himself just as close to the door. Diesel is even closer, almost blocking it.
“We're at an impasse then, since if I give you the girl, you'll have no reason to give me the dongle.”
I'm getting a little sick of being referred to as the girl.
“Alternately, I can just gun you down where you stand.” Shrapnel's voice gets, if anything, even harder. “I've killed a lot of people over the years. How about you? Think you can pull your trigger faster than me?”
“My muscles would probably contract and set off the weapon. Do you want to risk that?” She's definitely sounding terrified now. As much as it's an impasse, she's outnumbered, outgunned, and gotten herself in way over her head.
Bull puts his hand on Shrapnel's shoulder. “No, we don't. Let's put it this way instead. If you hurt her, there won't be enough left of you to identify when we're done. And we'll make it last a long, long time. So if you give us Rory, we'll give you the fucking dongle. And you'll have exactly two minutes to grab what you want and get yourself all the way the fuck out of here. After that, no guarantees, but it's the best deal you'll get to pull out of this clusterfuck. Otherwise, there's no way out until the soldiers come and probably wax all of us. Now, what do you say?”
